In Poland, this style appeared in the 11th century, at the time of the reign of King Casimir I the Restorer, who had transferred the main centre of the state authority from Gniezno to Kraków and renovated the diocese of Kraków. His activities was a reason for which in Małopolska many new buildings were erected at that time, a large part of which have survived, though in fragments, to the present day. It is worth remembering two Romanesque cathedrals that used to have existed on the Wawel Hill and whose preserved fragments are now hidden in the current Royal Archcathedral Basilica of St. Stanislaus and St. Wenceslaus in Kraków, the Norbertines’ church and convent in Zwierzyniec, the Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec founded by King Casimir I the Restorer and one of the oldest books in Poland kept there - Tyniec Sacramentarium, the Cistercian Abbey in Mogiła, original Romanesque architecture of the church in Wysocice or the picturesquely located little church in Tropie.
Romanesque Małopolska Route
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Romanesque art was closely associated with the medieval Church and it was sacred buildings what dominated in Romanesque architecture. Characteristic features of the Romanesque style were the harshness and severity of form, simplicity and monumentality.